Box Scores

WORCESTER, Mass. – Matt Fouch scattered two hits through seven innings and Army banged out 14 hits to earn a split with Holy Cross, Sunday in a Patriot League baseball doubleheader at a blustery Fitton Field.

Fouch threw five-plus innings of no-hit ball and picked up the win in the second game, an 8-1 Army victory. Holy Cross pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the opener, 2-1.

Army and Holy Cross split the weekend series with the Crusaders winning the first game on each day and the Black Knights the second. Army had 34 hits in the two nine-inning contests

The Black Knights are now 9-18 overall and 3-5 in league games. Holy Cross, which entered the weekend leading the league, is 11-16 overall and 6-2 in conference action.

“Overall as a staff we pitched well this weekend,” Army head coach Joe Sottolano said. “I don’t look at wins and losses, rather how we played. We made some progress. We need to get over the hump and perform in key situations.”

Fouch was in control of the strike zone despite the cold temperatures. He allowed just two hits, walked one and struck out seven for his second win over the season.

“Matt threw three pitches for strikes, used both sides of the plate and kept the ball down,” Sottolano said.

Drew Clothier took the loss in the first game, despite throwing 5.2 innings of no-hit ball.

On a cold and windy day, Army had 20 hits while three pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts and just three walks.

Cole White led the Army offense in the second game with a single, double and home run. He scored twice and knocked in three runs. Chris Simmons had a solo home run among his two hits while Tony Capozzi also had two runs and scored twice.

Army jumped on the scoreboard first in both games. In the top of the third of the second contest, Capozzi was hit by a pitch, moved to second when Clint Moore’s bunt was thrown away and took third after Andy Ernesto bunted for a base hit to load the bases. White grounded into a double play to make it 1-0.

Fouch walked the second batter he faced but did not allow another base runner until the sixth inning. He opened the game with a strike out and erased the walk by forcing a double play. He had one strikeout in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to preserve the Army lead through four innings.

White knocked in his second run in the fifth inning. Ben Koenigsfeld opened the inning with a single up the middle and Capozzi followed with a single. Moore bunted, erasing Koenigsfeld at third. Ernesto reached on a fielder’s choice with Moore the second out of the inning at second. White ripped a single to plate Capozzi. Kevin McKague, who had six hits during Saturday’s doubleheader, lined a double to the fence in left to clear the bases and give Army a 4-0 lead.

The Black Knights plated two more runs in the sixth inning. Simmons hit his third home run of the season, a one-out solo blast inside the foul pole in left. Mike Greco, who knocked in two runs during Saturday’s 16-0 win, followed with a single. One out later, Capozzi reached base for the third time with a single and Moore drilled a single to knock in Greco for a 6-0 Army advantage.

Fouch allowed his first hit with one out in the top of the sixth with a sharp single to right. He kept the shutout in tact with a fly out and ground out.

White registered his third RBI of the contest with a solo home run to left-center to open the seventh inning. It was White’s third home run of the season and 23rd of his career, moving him into a tie for second all-time at the Academy. Army pushed across another run in the seventh. One out after White’s long ball, J.P. Polchinski doubled to left and moved to third on a single by Simmons. One out later, Polchinski scored on a double steal to make it 8-0.

Holy Cross ended the shutout bid in the seventh. As the drizzle continued to fall, Jake Gorman doubled, went to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Tyler Anderegg, who pitched in both games, threw the final two innings.

In the opener, Holy Cross scratched out a 2-1 victory, scoring the winning run without the benefit of a hit to overshadow a strong performance by Clothier.

The senior left-hander threw 6.1 innings and allowed just three hits, all coming in the sixth inning. He walked just one batter – in the first inning – and finished with nine strikeouts.

Clothier was strong early in the game. Despite the low temperatures and winds, he posted six strikeouts in the first three innings. He hit a batter and walked one but ended the inning with a strikeout. He struck out two in the second and then struck out the side in the third, two of them looking.

Army had runners on in each of the first three innings and broke through in the fourth inning. White led off with a single and moved to third on McKague’s ground out. Polchinski, who had two of Army’s five hits, beat out an infield single and Simmons drilled a single to left to plate White. Army had a runner thrown out at the plate on after an error and led 1-0 through four innings.

Clothier did not allow a hit through five innings and upped his strikeout total to eight with flawless defense behind him.

Holy Cross ended the shutout with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when Jake Gorman hit a solo home run to left-center field to tie the score at 1.

The Crusaders pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, John Sills reached an error advanced to third when he attempted to steal second and the throw went into center field and scored on a suicide squeeze by Brendan McCrea.

“The big thing we need to do is perform when the chips are down,” Sottolano said. “It’s contagious. When things are going well, we are hitting. When a pitcher is throwing a good game against us, we’re not getting hits.”

Army will play a pair of mid-week, non-league games before returning to Patriot League action next weekend at Navy. Tuesday, Army will host Iona and then welcome Manhattan to Johnson Stadium a day later. The Black Knights will play two doubleheaders at Navy, Saturday and Sunday in Annapolis, Md.

Black Knight Blog: Weather.com listed the game-time temperature at 42 degrees with winds of 11 miles per hour ... Army opted for its black third jersey with the gold trim, along with gray pants with the black stripe and black hats. Holy Cross wore its home white for both doubleheaders ... Chris Simmons now has 11 home runs during his West Point career ... Cole White moved into a tie for second place on the all-time career home run ledger with his 23rd, three behind Mike Scioletti who hit 26 from 1995 to 98 ... in other Patriot League action on Sunday, Lafayette swept Bucknell 4-2 and 2-1 and Navy and Lehigh split ... in the league standings, Navy and Holy Cross are each 6-2, Bucknell and Lafayette are 4-4, Army is 3-5 and Lehigh is 1-7.